What are the best alternatives to Validity for email certification and deliverability data?
Matthew Whittaker
Co-founder & CTO, Suped
Published 21 May 2025
Updated 19 Aug 2025
6 min read
For many email marketers and senders, Validity has long been a go-to for email certification and deliverability insights. Their Everest platform offers a comprehensive suite of tools, from inbox placement to reputation monitoring. However, whether due to cost, specific feature needs, or a desire for alternative perspectives, many are exploring other options. Finding the right alternative means understanding what Validity offers and what aspects are most critical for your specific sending needs.
Email deliverability is a multifaceted challenge. It's not just about getting emails into the inbox, but also about maintaining a strong sender reputation, avoiding blocklists (or blacklists), and ensuring your messages resonate with recipients. A single tool, even a robust one, might not cover every angle or align perfectly with every budget or workflow.
This guide will explore various alternatives to Validity, focusing on different facets of email deliverability and certification. We'll look at tools and strategies that can help you maintain high inbox placement rates and effectively manage your email program, whether you're seeking a direct replacement for Validity’s certification program or looking to build a more granular, customized deliverability strategy.
Understanding email certification and its value
Validity’s Certification program, often seen as an evolution of Return Path's certification, aims to signal trustworthiness to mailbox providers. This whitelisting service can potentially improve inbox placement by bypassing some filtering mechanisms for certified senders. However, it’s important to understand that certification isn't a silver bullet; it's one piece of a larger deliverability puzzle.
The value of certification often depends on the specific mailbox providers (MBPs) you target and their participation in such programs. Some providers may heavily weigh certification, while others rely more on their internal reputation algorithms, engagement metrics, and authentication checks like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. Therefore, relying solely on certification without robust internal deliverability practices can lead to diminishing returns.
Many organizations look for alternatives that provide similar assurances or more actionable data. These alternatives often fall into categories like comprehensive deliverability suites, specialized monitoring tools, or independent consultants who offer bespoke solutions. The goal is to find a system that not only flags potential issues but also provides the data and insights needed to proactively improve your email program.
Key areas of email deliverability to monitor
Beyond certification, several critical areas directly influence your email deliverability. Monitoring these elements is essential for maintaining a healthy sending reputation and ensuring your emails reach their intended recipients. A good alternative to Validity will provide robust data and insights across these key areas.
Email authentication: Implementing and monitoring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC is fundamental. These protocols verify your sending identity and help prevent spoofing and phishing, which are major factors in email blocking. DMARC monitoring provides valuable feedback on how your emails are being authenticated.
Sender reputation: Your sending IP and domain reputation are crucial. This is influenced by factors such as spam complaint rates, bounce rates, spam trap hits, and overall engagement. Tools that provide a domain reputation score (like Sender Score) can be very insightful. Keeping an eye on blacklists and blocklists is also vital.
Inbox placement testing: Sending test emails to various seed list addresses at major mailbox providers gives you a snapshot of where your emails are landing—in the inbox, spam folder, or getting rejected. This is a direct measure of your campaigns' effectiveness.
Email list hygiene: Regularly validating your email lists is crucial to remove invalid, inactive, or spam trap addresses. Dirty lists lead to high bounce rates and can quickly harm your sender reputation.
Many alternatives focus on providing actionable data in one or more of these areas, allowing senders to identify and resolve deliverability issues quickly.
Types of deliverability tools and their uses
When looking for alternatives to Validity, you'll find a range of tools, each with its strengths. Some offer broad deliverability platforms, while others specialize in particular functions like email validation or blacklist monitoring. Many comprehensive email deliverability tools aim to provide a holistic view, similar to Validity Everest.
Certification-focused approach
Primary benefit: Aims to provide a 'trusted sender' signal to participating mailbox providers, potentially leading to preferential inbox placement.
Scope: Often focuses on meeting specific criteria set by the certification body. Provides a general seal of approval for email practices.
Data insights: May offer high-level data on how certification impacts deliverability but less granular insights into specific sending issues.
Suitability
Best for senders prioritizing a formal 'whitelist' status and who have already established solid email practices, seeking an additional layer of trust.
Comprehensive deliverability platforms
Primary benefit: Provides detailed insights and tools to diagnose and improve email deliverability across all factors, irrespective of certification.
Provides real-time metrics and actionable recommendations to troubleshoot and improve deliverability issues directly.
Suitability
Ideal for senders who need deep insights into their deliverability performance and proactive tools to manage and optimize their email campaigns consistently.
Beyond comprehensive suites, you can also consider specialized tools:
Email validation services: Tools like ZeroBounce and Emailable are crucial for maintaining list hygiene. They identify invalid, temporary, or risky email addresses, preventing bounces and spam trap hits.
Inbox placement testers: Services such as GlockApps and Mail-Tester provide detailed reports on where your emails land across various mailbox providers.
DNSBL (blocklist) monitoring: Many providers offer blocklist checking services that alert you if your IP or domain gets listed on a spam blacklist. Early detection is key for quick remediation.
Selecting the right alternative for your needs
Choosing the best alternative requires a clear understanding of your specific needs and priorities. Consider whether you need a direct replacement for Validity's certification, a tool focused on a specific aspect like inbox placement, or a more holistic platform.
It's often beneficial to adopt a multi-tool strategy, combining specialized services to cover all bases. For instance, you might use a dedicated email validation tool, an inbox placement tester, and a robust DMARC monitoring solution to get a comprehensive view of your email health. This approach allows for flexibility and can often be more cost-effective while still providing deep insights.
Remember that deliverability is an ongoing effort. The best tools will provide continuous monitoring and actionable data to help you adapt to changing mailbox provider algorithms and maintain strong relationships with your recipients. Investing in tools that align with your email volume, budget, and internal resources is key to long-term success.
The path forward for email deliverability
Maintaining strong email deliverability is crucial for any sender, whether you choose a certification service or a combination of specialized tools. The key is to be proactive and informed.
Views from the trenches
Best practices
Actively monitor your email program's metrics, including open rates, click-through rates, and complaint rates.
Implement and maintain SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records for robust email authentication.
Regularly clean and validate your email lists to remove invalid or risky addresses.
Use a seed list for inbox placement testing to see where your emails are landing at major providers.
Common pitfalls
Over-relying on a single certification service without comprehensive deliverability monitoring.
Ignoring DMARC reports, which contain critical data on email authentication failures.
Sending to unengaged or old lists, leading to high bounce rates and spam trap hits.
Not monitoring blocklists (blacklists) regularly, which can severely impact deliverability.
Expert tips
Diversify your deliverability monitoring tools to gain a more complete picture of your email performance.
Focus on sender reputation as a holistic indicator, considering all factors beyond just certification.
Prioritize list hygiene and proper opt-in practices to build a foundation of trust with mailbox providers.
Understand that deliverability is a continuous process that requires ongoing attention and adjustment.
Marketer view
A marketer from Email Geeks says they are currently working with Validity but are actively seeking alternatives for their email certification needs.
June 20, 2022 - Email Geeks
Marketer view
A marketer from Email Geeks says that some services primarily offer certification and may not provide the comprehensive reputation dashboard features that were previously available through Return Path, now integrated into Validity’s Everest platform.
